Ace (metahuman)
}} Ace was the most powerful member of the first and second incarnations of the Royal Flush Gang. She was the youngest of the group, and exhibited childlike manners. Ace rarely spoke, and often stared into the void. History Ace's behavior was symptomatic of her traumatic childhood. She was born with the ability to send out thought waves that altered people's perception, and eventually drove them insane, just by eye contact. When she was only an infant, Ace left her parents in a catatonic insanity, albeit unintentionally. A few years later, she was taken by the government (in an earlier version of Cadmus), which intended to study and use her skill. They managed to dampen her power by the use of a headband, which made her harmless and controllable. Ace spent all her childhood being studied and tested, until she was taken in by the Joker and recruited into the Royal Flush Gang. Joker intended to use her to drive millions of people insane, via broadcasting signal. This plan would have succeeded, if not for Batman revealing that the Joker had a power-dampening headband with him all along. Ace turned against her "rescuer" and carried out poetic justice by driving him even more insane than he already was, and calmly went away. At some point, Cadmus retrieved Ace and resumed her original training. Ace's powers eventually evolved, and she became capable of warping reality. She managed to run away, and used her new power to create her own Royal Flush Gang. The Justice League went after her, and Amanda Waller informed them that Ace would soon perish from an aneurysm. Furthermore, the psychic backlash would kill everyone within her power range, so Waller gave them a device to kill Ace. .]] Batman volunteered to do it, because he and Ace were already acquainted. With the remarkable inner strength and compassion worthy of a true hero, Batman ventured into Ace's hideaway. It would be these qualities that endeared him to Amanda Waller. Ace allowed Batman to get close to her, because she had read his mind and knew he had no intention of killing her. Instead, he wanted to talk her into fixing what she had changed. Ace confided in Batman about her bitterness for being cheated out of her childhood, to have been studied and trained as a weapon. She was also aware that she was about to die soon, and asked Batman to stay with her for consolation. Batman empathized with her tragic background, sat with her and held her hand until she peacefully passed away undoing the affects of her power. Batman emerged holding the girl's body. This event convinced Waller that the world would always need someone with Batman's compassion and skills, leading to her initiating Project Batman Beyond. Powers and abilities Ace was a psychic whose primary power was the ability to warp the perceptions of others (often leaving them catatonic, mentally unstable or psychologically damaged). Her power was originally limited to those with whom she made eye-contact, even by proxy such as a television broadcast. Her secondary powers, initially not disclosed, included telekinesis. Later, as her powers grew, Ace's powers evolved to the point of reality warping and telepathy. However, this proved to be too much for her brain to handle, and ultimately was her undoing. Appearances * "Wild Cards" * "Epilogue" (flashback) References Category:A to Z Category:Individuals with mental powers Category:Justice League rogues Category:Metahumans Category:Royal Flush Gang members